Valve Software sends word that arrests have been made internationally in the highly publicized
theft of source code for Half-Life 2 (story), their eagerly anticipated first-person shooter sequel:

Online Community Tracks Down
Hackers

June, 10 2004 – Arrests have been made in several countries related to the
break-in to Valve’s network, theft of the Half-Life 2 source code, and release
of the source code on the Internet.

“Within a few days of the announcement of the break-in, the online gaming
community had tracked down those involved,” said Gabe Newell, Valve’s CEO. “It
was extraordinary to watch how quickly and how cleverly gamers were able to
unravel what are traditionally unsolvable problems for law enforcement related
to this kind of cyber-crime.”

Thousands of tips were received related to the criminal activities, with a core
group of people who were able to analyze and backtrack from these clues.
Subsequent to these individuals being identified, Valve has been working with
various national authorities to prepare cases against those involved, leading to
these arrests.

“It was very uplifting to see how the community rallied and tracked these people
down. Everyone here at Valve is once again reminded of how much we owe to the
gaming community,” added Mr. Newell.

Release dates aren't legally binding... if you treat it like it is, that's YOUR own fault.

If you buy a video card that includes a game that hasn't been released yet, you should expect to receive the game when it comes out, and if you can't handle that, perhaps you shouldn't be purchasing that particular item

If you spent 200 bucks on Halflife thats your own fault...

Valve is a business, Halflife2 is a product... first and foremost that is how Valve has to treat their reality... because they have to report to investors, financers, etc... because they have a budget... it just so happens that Valve tends to support Halflife and it's community more than most, how many years have patches been coming out REGULARLY? SDK? etc? How many other companies have supported/hired talented mod-makers in a manner such as Valve? Name another game that comes CLOSE to all of the above in regards to Halflife, and is currently still being played like mad, still supported, more than 1/2 a DECADE after it's release!!!

Privaleges and rights people. Know the difference.

And you know what, if you don't like the facts, don't like the people involved, simply don't support the product... but then if the whiners were THAT mature, we wouldn't really have to be subjected to all this childish conspiracy theories and fat jokes now would we?

Unconfirmed reports last month suggested that a German man recently charged with creating a ubiquitous Trojan horse program named "Agobot" or "Phatbot" may have been behind the Valve code theft as well.

It is much more likely that this kid happened to have the Half-Life 2 source code on his PC since it is so widely available. The fact is that any arrests in connection with this will no doubt be either because the suspects happened to have the code or the released playable game files on their PC's.

Basically this is just Valve's way of saying that this "investigation" is over and we should all "move along" because it knows that there was no outside hacker.This comment was edited on Jun 13, 19:19.

"While few details of the theft have emerged since October, Newell said at the time that the source code was stolen in September by hackers who systematically compromised the company's computer systems by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client on Newell's computer, installing key stroke capture software to acquire passwords and other security credentials, then stealing a copy of the Half-Life 2 source code.

Unconfirmed reports last month suggested that a German man recently charged with creating a ubiquitous Trojan horse program named "Agobot" or "Phatbot" may have been behind the Valve code theft as well.

Horst Haug, a spokesperson for the State Bureau of Investigation in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, declined to comment on a link between the two cases this week."

There is that and there there is steam, which from all acounts really sucks, community wise...

Don't forget that the original HL didn't have any sdk for computerized opponents, Gabe is trying to get off as John Carmack while he is not. The "Damnit" post of Carmack on /. was in place, Gabe's "you are so cool, we love you" is not.

On the other hand, if that's how he plays it - thats great - scrap steam, open source the source engine (thats a pan I couldn't avoid) and let there be light, IF the community is so important go OGRE, don't go M$ (yeah I know, lots of people worked on it blah blah blah, thats no reason to open source the code and sell the game, not so many are going to use the source, and those which will will create more MODs for it so more people will by the game to get in the network)

A few days after the announcement, they had tracked down those involved, and then they waited nearly a year to finally arrest them?

And what the fuck is up with this pseudo sunshine bullshit that Gabe is trying to blow up everyone's asshole? "It was extraordinary to watch how quickly and how cleverly gamers were able to unravel what are traditionally unsolvable problems"

To me it comes across as "We're sorry we lied to you for a year, you're all sooooooooo cool, please buy my game?"

Everyone here at Valve is once again reminded of how much we owe to the gaming community

It's no wonder why developers seem to be "abandoning" the pc market and developing for console more nowadays. Everywhere you go, and I mean everywhere, you see a thread of PC gaming fans just constantly whining, bitching, moaning, complaining, theorizing, etc etc about development of a product they know absolutely nothing about. Who wants to make games for people like that? Who wants to make games for fans who just turn on you in seconds? It's amazing. The consolers who are purpetrated (sp) to be 13 years old bitch 100% less.

No. Developers are getting into consoles because console software sold $5.8 billion last year as opposed to PC games selling $1.2 billion.

And No. Players under the age of 18 make up 36% of the console game market.

The problem with your ideology, is that there's no mod community for console games, no map makers, nothing that keeps the game going other than the original content. How many copies have been sold of Half-Life because of the Counter-Strike etc mod community? Sure you get all the whiners, but you also get many millions more dollars if you do it right.

It's no wonder why developers seem to be "abandoning" the pc market and developing for console more nowadays. Everywhere you go, and I mean everywhere, you see a thread of PC gaming fans just constantly whining, bitching, moaning, complaining, theorizing, etc etc about development of a product they know absolutely nothing about. Who wants to make games for people like that? Who wants to make games for fans who just turn on you in seconds? It's amazing. The consolers who are purpetrated (sp) to be 13 years old bitch 100% less.

Bottom line is: the developers owe the customer NOTHING. They make a product and see if you buy it. If you do, great. Everything they do after that, be it extra maps, mods, etc, is strictly from the kindness of their heart. They dont have to support their own product if they don't want to. Granted, that's not a wise decision..

Why cant we make jokes about it? I dont care if someone is fat, homosexual, ugly, etc. I still can laugh about it though when its funny, without taking it serious. You better stop having your head in your ass, thinking jokes are serious.

Waiting for BIS to come back to their senses and do a real ArmA 2 successor.

1) This news article is a lie!2) Valve didnt catch the thieves, only the pirates3) Gabe Newell is a Hamburglar4) But we should make fun of RPG nerds more.5) Nobody here knows wtf they are talking about [still]

I personally distaste any law enforcements due to past experiences, they always believe they have the "right of way" with anything they do. In other words, they believe they are above the law, and the "other" arrests and detainments of people's property over this matter is just a prime example. Its sad when people resort to ratting others out for the sake of a game developer, especially when they have nothing to gain from this all. Except maybe wasting away tax payer money and exercising a poor justice system that is so obviously flawed its pathetic.